The present invention relates to a fish bite signaling means and, in particular, to apparatus compatible with ice fishing.
A popular winter activity for fisherman residing in the northern tier states, where lakes ice over during the winter months, is the sport of ice fishing. This activity can be pursued with either a fishing line or spear. Most typically, once a hole is prepared through the ice covering, the fisherman suspends a bait or lure to attract and entice a prey fish to appropriately present itself and ingest the bait and a hidden hook.
While hand lines or a variety of rod and reel combinations can be used to present the bait, numerous devices or so called "tip-ups" have been developed. A tip-up supports a line containing reel in stationary relation to an ice hole to indicate a bite to the angler via the extraction of line from the reel. The angler meanwhile may be more comfortably positioned within an adjacent vehicle, ice house or other shelter. Depending upon user preference, the reel and line may be submerged or alternately supported above the ice in either an exposed or a protected fashion relative to environmental influences.
Of the exposed type of assemblies, problems often arise from difficulties in dismantling or erecting the assembly; to having the hole freeze and trap the line; to having the reel or flag freeze with drifting/blowing snow; to not being able to see the bite indicator under low light conditions. It is with many of these latter considerations in mind that the present assembly was developed.
As regards prior assemblies of which Applicants are aware, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,246,716; 4,285,154; and 4,030,223, disclose submersible spool assemblies. The 4,246,716 assembly includes a metal tab which is tied to the fishline and cooperates with an annunciator means including audible and visible bite alarms. U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,223 shows an assembly including a magnetically biased signaling arm.
Other assemblies which include a hole cover mechanism are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,621,446; 4,685,240; 4,787,166; 4,780,979; 4,823,494; and 4,862,627. A variety of spooled line containers and bite indicator means are included with the hole cover mechanisms. The spooled line holders are variously mounted in parallel or perpendicular relation to the base.
Where mounted in perpendicular relation to the base, such as in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,621,446; 4,787,166 and 4,780,979 assemblies, a rigid vertical wall is typically provided and the spooled line container is rotatively mounted to the wall. The line is tangentially suspended from the reel into the fish hole. Line supports, in turn, are variously secured to the base and/or vertical wall to cooperate with a mechanical linkage that interconnects with a flag member to release the flag and indicate a bite with line movement.
Applicants believe an assembly which provides an edge mounted spooled reel that tangentially supports the line in the hole is preferable to other assemblies. However, the vertically supported spool presents difficulties for storage and transport of multiple tip-up assemblies. That is, the relatively high profile presented by the spool, unless a small diameter spool is used, minimizes the numbers of units which can be readily carried by the fisherman. The use of mechanical connections to the flag signaling members also present potential problems should drifting snow or consequent ice restrict movement at the pivot points of their linkages.
In appreciation of the foregoing problems, Applicants have developed an improved tip-up assembly which overcomes many difficiencies of prior art tip-ups.